5 Ways Your Handbag Could Be Making You Sick

The
ever-wise Nicole Richie once said "everything good in life is either
illegal, immoral or fattening." While we would disagree on the grounds
that jumping on piles of crunchy leaves never hurt nobody, we have to
concede that does sometimes feel like the things we love the most hate
us.

Case in point? Your
beloved handbag might not actually be so hot for your health. From
being an actual receptacle of disease and death (possibly a slight
exaggeration there) to straight-up wrecking your hair, here's what the
damage could be...

1. It makes you walk funny.

When
you're carrying a heavy bag, it throws off your natural gait, which is
the natural swing of your arms and legs as you walk. Adding a bag into
the mix just makes you off-balance, especially if it's heavy. And when
you're carrying around, oh, I don't know, a massive makeup bag, a book,
umpteen snacks and some random junk, it gets heavy fast.

2. It damages your back.

Carrying
a heavy bag will particularly affect the trapezius muscle, which sits
along the top of your shoulders. The constant weight and pressure can
cause it to spasm, which can lead to back pain and back problems. Think
stiffness, soreness and general inflexibility — not good, if you ask us.

Those
muscles in your shoulders and back have been linked to headaches. The
spasming of the muscles in your back kind of radiates around to the
front of your skull — kind of hard to explain, but the upshot is, a
heavy bag might make your head start thumping.

Weird
but true: If you always carry your handbag on the same side of your
shoulder, you might seriously thin out your hair. Basically, some hair
always inevitably gets caught under the strap, and then the pressure
from the strap makes the hair break and get thinner. Embellished and
chain straps are the worst offenders, as they're that bit more likely to
get hair caught around them. Don't believe us? Ask your hairdresser to
guess which side of your shoulder you carry your bag on.

5. It could be full of germs.

Now
this is grim: A study by the University of Colorado Boulder found that
if your bag's not been cleaned for a while, it could have up to 10,000
kinds of different bacteria. In total, that's more bacteria than a
bathroom. Keep yours as germ-free as possible by always hanging it on
the door, rather than leaving it on the floor in public restrooms,
washing your hands before rifling through and tightly wrapping any food
you pop in.